'Peaceful Parents' Mindfulness Of Feeling

This meditation helps you to connect to your inner emotional self which allows you to observe with curiosity and accept any feelings you may be having. This will help you to move through any emotions with acceptance, kindness and self compassion.

Transcript

So just taking a moment now to get comfortable, You can sit down or lie down, Whatever feels right for you and close your eyes over and as you do that just take a few deep breaths just to allow your body to relax. So as you breathe in just noticing the belly rising and as you breathe out just noticing the belly just falling back down. Now just shifting your attention to any sensations that you can notice in your body. You might notice just first how you're sitting or how you're lying and then how that feels. You might feel the pressure on the chair or might feel your back against the floor or the bed. Just start to become aware of the sensations that are inside and outside of your body. Now just placing a hand on your heart, Your chest area and just begin to feel that in and out breath, Just that gentle movement around the chest area. You might like to also keep a hand on your belly and feel the belly and the chest move. And just noticing that sensation in the body as you take the in breath and the out breath. If you notice yourself getting distracted or a thought pops into your mind which is really normal, Just bring your attention just gently back to the breath, Coming back to your belly or your chest. And just having that point as your anchor for the breath and being in this present moment. So as you just continue this mindfulness of breathing, Just notice if there's any emotions that might be present right now. Just asking yourself, What am I feeling right now? What emotions am I feeling right here, Right now? And remember there's no right or wrong, We're just bringing that curiosity and observation to what we can feel right now. Maybe there's no strong emotion, It could just be a sense of contentment or calm, Just a fairly sort of neutral feeling. Or maybe there's something stronger, Such as sadness or worry or maybe even joy or excitement. You might be having a few feelings. So now I'm going to try and identify the strongest feeling that you're having. See if you can notice that now and give it a name. Just give it a name in your mind. It might just be very sort of subtle that feeling that you have. See if you can be aware of what it is and give it a name. For example, I am feeling worry, I am feeling calm, I am feeling joy. Just allowing it to be there, We don't need to analyze it or think about why we're feeling this way or try to stop the feeling or hold on to a feeling. We're just bringing curiosity and kindness and gentleness towards ourself, Noticing any feelings you have right now. If you do feel overwhelmed by the emotion, You just find it just really too uncomfortable, Then just do what's kind, What feels comfortable for you. You might like to just focus back on your breath until you feel a bit better. But if you can, Just staying with that feeling in the body and seeing if there's a sensation that goes with it. So where can you feel that in your body? Can you feel it in your heart? Can you feel it in your belly? In your chest? In your neck? Can you feel it as tension? Or can you feel it as tingling? Or feeling as something really tight or something really fluid? Or is there a warmth or coolness in the body? And you might even like to place a hand on your body where you feel that sensation. And just bringing that attitude of kindness towards yourself and also soothing if you'd like. Just noticing now if the sensation is staying or going, Whether it's coming or going, Whether it's fluid or whether it feels really stuck. Knowing that there's no right or wrong, We're just being curious of what we feel in the body. You can even say to yourself, This is worry, Or this is sadness, Or this is excitement, Or this is anxiety, Or this is stress, Or this is contentment. So give it a label. And now breathing down deeply into that part of the body, Almost as though the breath can go past the lungs and into that part of the body that needs soothing by the breath. And just allow the breath to calm and soothe that part of the body. Just allowing some nice deep breaths into that part of the body. Breathing in, Breathing out, Nice long slow out-breath. Breathing in, Nice long slow out-breath. And then again, Breathing in, Nice long slow out-breath. Now just focus on your breath for a moment, Just allowing it just to be breathing naturally for you. And now in a moment we'll be opening our eyes, But just take the time that you need to do that. You might like to lie down for a few more moments or sit. And just notice the breath, Or when the time's right, You can open your eyes.